


The Switch Fix

by Quarantinevibes



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Morality | Patton Sanders Angst, Morality | Patton Sanders Needs a Hug, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, Nightmares, Patton punches Logan, Set before POF, Set before SVS pt. 2, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, injured logan, it's not as bad as it sounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 07:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23967802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quarantinevibes/pseuds/Quarantinevibes
Summary: A certain snake gets tired of the other side's bickering and switches their abilities:Patton gets Logan's objectivityLogan gets Roman's ability to conjure from the imaginationRoman gets Virgil's ability to see multiple futuresAnd Virgil gets Patton's empathyWill the four of them be able to understand each other and go back to normal, or will they be stuck like this forever?Completed!
Comments: 314
Kudos: 580





	1. Virgil's 24 pack of Sharpies

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy everyone! How are we feeling after that last Sanders Sides vid :)  
> This fic was written before the video was released, so Deceit's real name won't be used (until the very last chapter).
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan's POV

Logan sighed as a stapler whizzed by his nose and landed on the far wall, narrowly missing a certain prince’s head. Roman dodged and the stapler dug itself into the dry wall. He plucked it out and waved it around.

“Stop throwing office supplies!” he yelled and Virgil held up a sharpie as if it were a mace.

“Stopping making those stupid sounds with your mouth!”

“I’m not! I’m just talking!”

“Same thing!”

The marker flew through the air, this time hitting Roman in the shoulder and leaving a dark blue dot. Roman spluttered, rubbed at the stain, made it worse, and then glared at Virgil.

“How _dare_ you!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “It’s just a stain.”

  
“These clothes are made by Fairy Godmother. _THE_ Fairy Godmother! Nothing on her masterpieces are _just_ a stain! How do you think she’s going to react when-”

Another sharpie through the air. Another blot on Roman’s clothes, this time dark green. Logan pinched his nose at the ensuing chaos.

Thomas had summoned them an hour ago to discuss a problem. He had bought a sweater for a friend, one that Roman had given his seal of approval on. Upon giving it to her, though, Thomas remembered that she preferred to wear only oversized tops. Thomas asked them what to do, and Logan believed that it was a simple problem with a simple solution. Simply ask for the top back and tell her that he was going to buy it in a bigger size.

Thomas agreed, but the Virgil began asking questions. What if she gets offended about him buying it in a bigger size? Who asks for a present back? What if she returns it and finds out that Thomas didn’t spend enough money on her? None of this would have happened in the first place had _someone_ not given an early stamp of approval.

And that had been the proverbial match that ignited the firestorm of arguing that was happening in front of him. Logan had convinced Thomas to just get her a gift receipt, but when they sunk back into the mind palace…

“It was a cute sweater!” Roman roared and chucked the stapler back at Virgil, it missed and banged against the stair-rail, hitting Logan in the head. Virgil picked it up and threw it again.

Logan rubbed his head and Patton frowned.

“Now, kiddos I’m sure we can-”

“How does someone even forget about clothe preferences when SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES?!” Virgil yelled back, armed with another sharpie (where did he keep getting those?).

“Thomas asked if it was cute, I said yes! It’s not my job to keep track of his friend’s preferences!”

“Then whose job is it?!”

Roman ducked out of the way of a projectile writing utensil. He caught it in his hands and prepared to throw it back, when there was a small noise from the other corner of the room. He and Virgil stopped and turned.

“Mine,” Patton said in a small voice. His shoulders were hunched and his cheeks were burning red. Both Virgil and Roman stared at him for a beat before Virgil let out a loud groan.

“Pat!”

“I know! I’m sorry! Thomas was just so excited to buy the gift that I kind of got swept up in it,” he said with a slight pout. Roman sighed and scrubbed his face.

“You can’t just forget things like that Padre, it’s like, your one job!”

Patton drew back with a slight frown, “I have other jobs,” he mumbled and Virgil readied another pen.

“Yeah, Roman, stop trying to turn the blame on Patton!”

“You’re right! For someone who’s perpetually worrying, I can’t believe _you_ missed that fact!”

 _Splat_. Another stain on the Prince, he was starting to look like an abstract painting.

“How about you offer an actual solution?”

“That’s easy seeing as my job isn’t to just worry all the time! And we got her a gift receipt didn’t we??”

“Yeah! After we gave her the present! That doesn’t seem slightly suspicious to you? She’ll probably think Thomas is,” another marker, “crazy!”

Logan scoffed. The gift receipt was his idea, and he thought it was a perfectly logical one given the circumstances. He told the other two this and Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, this coming from the one who wanted to return the gift after giving it.”

  
Roman nodded, the marker war had temporarily ceased. “Honestly,” he turned away and scowled, “Have you no tact?”

Virgil snorted at Roman, “Yeah. And have you no taste?”

Roman scowled harder, “What’s that supposed to mean? I have a _fantastic_ taste in women’s fashion! And I’m still a manly man! A man who is manly! A-ACK!”

A pink sharpie had grazed the side of Roman’s eye.

“Stop quoting yourself from our videos!” yelled Virgil.

“Ohh, looks like you have pink eye, Roman!” Patton giggled.

Virgil snorted again and both Logan and Roman groaned loudly. The markers were being thrown from both sides now, though the stapler had mysteriously disappeared from Virgil’s arsenal. Logan interjected angrily whenever they questioned his decision and Patton piped up to either offer an apology or make a color-based pun (you’re looking pretty _black and blue_ there, Roman!). The bickering didn’t seem to have an end, until-

“ENOUGH!”

They all turned. A certain snake was standing on their coffee table. His hands were crossed and his human eye was twitching angrily.

“DECE-” Logan started, but the snake flipped his hand and Logan’s palm moved to close his own mouth.

“I said _enough,”_ he hopped off the table and started pacing, “enough yelling, enough arguing, enough,” he held up a mangled stapler, “throwing things! Do you all _realize_ how LOUD you are??”

Logan raised an eyebrow. Had their bickering really been that noisy? He tried to pose it as a question, but his hand got in the way.

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “Let go of Logan and get out of here, snake,” he hissed. He whipped around to face him.

“No.”

“No?” Virgil asked, his voice dangerously bordering dual-toned.

“ _No._ I am tired of hearing you fight and blame each other all. The. Time,” he clapped his hands with each syllable, “At first, it was funny, but now? I’m done! I’m sick of it! You think it’s so easy to do each other’s jobs? Fine!” he uncrossed his hands and waved them in the air, “I am _more_ than happy to oblige.”

The ground beneath them shook and pale yellow tendrils crawled out of the deceitful side's finger tips and latched themselves onto the four of them. Roman drew his sword and hacked at the strings, though it didn’t seem to have any effect.

“Unhand me, villain!” he yelled, and it would have been intimidating had Roman not looked like a fourth grader’s tie-dye project. The snake gave him a wry smile and the tendrils circled the four of them. They glowed and Logan felt his eye sight go bleary. He swayed and put a hand on the stair rail to steady himself.

“Wha-?”

The tendrils grew brighter until the entire room was enveloped in light.

And then, Logan’s world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, this was written before the video was released, so the 'happy to oblige' line was a cool coincidence!


	2. Duck...duck...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four sides wake up-  
> Logan's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Logan blinked awake and rubbed his head.

In front of him, the other three sides were slowly coming to. Patton shook his head several times, as if to dislodge something.

“What-?” Logan started and felt at the bump that had formed when he was hit with the stapler. He winced. He had quite the figurative goose egg.

_HONK!_

Logan jumped and turned. A bright orange beak was inches from his face. Logan’s eyes widened and he followed the beak to the rest of the bird. A plump, white goose was sitting next to him, on top of a large, oval egg. Logan blinked.

“What.” Logan repeated again. This time as more of a statement. Virgil groaned and shifted into sitting position. He regarded the goose for a moment.

“Um, what’s that?” he asked.

“Honk?” answered the goose.

Virgil blinked and walked over to the coffee table, seemingly determined to ignore the sudden appearance of the waterfowl. He picked up a small piece of paper that had been left there, read it, and then flung it across the room. The goose waddled over to the paper and picked it up in its beak. Virgil turned to Roman.

“Get up, Princey. We’re going snake hunting,” he said and Roman scrubbed at his face.

“Sounds good to me,” Roman slurred, still slightly disoriented, and got up. Patton was watching the goose as it walked back to Logan’s side and deposited the note in his hands.

_Dear Collective Society of Morons,_

_Like I said, I’m tired of your constant bickering. I’ve gone to vacation in Memory Lane where I’ll be running through all of Thomas’s most embarrassing memories and telling him what he could have said to make himself sound cooler. Don’t bother trying to find me, it won’t work._

_In the meantime, I’ve switched your power sets. It you all think you can do each other’s jobs better, then by all means you can try it. It won’t switch back until you’ve understood each other’s abilities. So like I said, don’t try and find me because I can’t do anything about it._

_Well. That’s enough exposition. Tata._

There was a tiny drawing of a double-headed snake in a bowler hat at the bottom. Logan caught Patton’s eye and tossed the note to him. Patton read it and put a hand to his chin.

“So, uh, what’s going on anyways?” Roman asked as he walked to the couch, his eyes seemed a bit clearer as he looked around the room. His shoulders were hunched and he was moving his hands as if searching for somewhere to put them.

“It would seem that our abilities have been switched. Logan has Roman’s abilities, Roman you have Virgil’s, which means that Virgil has mine.”

They all looked at Patton who stared back at them.

“Wha- how do you know who has what?” Virgil asked and Patton shrugged.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

They all shook their heads, the goose included, and Patton sighed and pointed at Roman’s hands and then to the goose.

“Roman, you’re on edge, you have Virgil’s. Logan you conjured a goose, you have Roman’s. I obviously have Logan’s which means Virgil has mine.”

Logan shook his head. He had a growing headache that was beginning to throb.

“I didn’t even know we had ‘abilities’, what does that even mean?” Virgil asked and glanced suspiciously at the goose who only cocked his head at him. Roman nodded.

“Well, my abilities are pretty straight forward,” he poked the goose and it honked loudly, “I can conjure things from the imagination. But what are all of yours? Have you always had different powers but never told me? Did you think I wouldn’t understand? Did you even have them before this? Is that snake lying about all of this? Is this even really-” Roman was interrupted by a large egg that was suddenly stuffed in his mouth. He spit it out.

“Why would you do that?!” he shrieked, “Do you know the kinds of diseases that can be carried by goose eggs?! Salmonella, Virgil! Amoeba!”

Virgil sighed loudly, the goose was angrily honking at him and pulled at his sleeve. It grabbed its egg and waddled back to Logan’s side.

“Yeah, Princey, you definitely have my ‘ability’,” he said, air-quoting.

“Which is??” Roman asked and clasped at a couch cushion. Virgil snatched the cushion away and Roman made a small ‘eep’ sound.

“It’s- I- ugh I guess you would describe it as being able to see multiple possibilities for the future? Now that I don’t have it anymore, it’s kind of obvious,” Virgil fanned a hand across his face, “And may I suggest that you take a shower sometime soon? You smell like a wet cat.”

Logan pushed his glasses up, “I don’t think he smells like a wet cat?” he said and jumped when a drenched orange tabby suddenly appeared next to him. It yowled at the goose who was standing next to Logan protectively and the two began to chase each other around the living room.

Patton inspected the scene for a moment before turning to Virgil. “That’s not Roman you’re smelling Virgil, it’s his worry.”

Virgil turned to Patton and pressed his lips together, waiting for him to continue.

“That’s my power. I’m an empath. Sometimes people’s feelings come across as emotions, but sometimes they can come across like physical sensations. Like anger can be splotches of red and feel warm or irritation is an itch on the back of my leg or excitement feels like pop rocks.”

“That,” Virgil started and went pale, “that sounds awful. I have my own emotions to deal with, how can I deal with others’?”

Patton frowned. “Yes, it does seem like a rather burdensome power. However, I know I enjoyed it. I wonder why,” he crossed his arms in front of him and let out a thoughtful hum. He turned to Logan, “My confusion can perhaps be explained by your rendition of what your ability is, Logan,” he said.

Logan blinked at him. Something had seemed fundamentally _off_ since he woke up. He was hyper-aware of every micro-expression that the others made, every head tilt and every eyebrow raise. Things that he had never paid attention to before were suddenly right in front of his face. But in return for the new awareness of other’s emotions, he sensed a loss of something important. He tried to think of what ethical problem this reminded him of, whether there was a book or article in his mind that he could refer to, but he drew a blank.

Ah. That was it.

“I-uh,” he started, but now his blood was running cold with the realization of what he had lost, “I can call upon all of Thomas’s knowledge and can use it to think up multiple solutions to any problem he may pose.”

Patton closed his eyes and let out a ‘hmm’. “And your emotions are dulled in the process?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked. Gosh, it was getting hard to concentrate. His headache was getting worse and he registered Roman’s suddenly panicked expression far more strongly than he normally would.

“Can you not feel emotions Patton? Does that mean Logan can’t feel emotions? Is everything ok with Logan? If everything isn’t ok with Logan that everything isn’t ok with Patton and even if we do get our abilities switched back we have to find out how to-”

Logan held up a hand to stop Roman’s rant. Virgil was pinching his nose shut and Logan eyed Patton.

“Of course I have emotions, though I don’t show them quite as boisterously as you all do,” he squinted his eyes, “though, it is true that when I’m solving a problem, my personal emotions tend to become background noise so that I can focus on the situation at hand. I can control this objectivity, though.”

“Ah. If it’s a question of control that makes sense. Deceit wrote that if we are to get our own abilities back, we must understand each other’s. That’s a simple solution. Tell me Logan, how do you control it?”

Logan blinked at him. How could he explain how to do something that he had done his whole life, unconsciously? He rubbed at his temples, his headache was now taking up the majority of his attention, and it felt like every little noise was a thunderclap-

_BOOM!_

Roman screeched. The living room had suddenly filled with storm clouds and was raining all over them. The water gathered quickly and soon there was about three inches at their feet. The goose swum happily towards Logan who let out a loud groan.

“Can someone tell me why it’s raining cats and dogs all of the sudden?” Virgil asked and pulled up his hoodie. Logan looked at the water.

“There are not cats and dogs he-”

“No Logan, don’t!” Patton yelled, but it was too late. Dozens of tabbies and Labradors were instantly falling from the ceiling and landing on the furniture. The cats hissed at the water and jumped to higher ground, one of them using Roman’s head as a haven.

“Ahh no! Cats have fleas! Ticks! Lyme disease! Isn’t Patton allergic? Does that mean I’m allergic?”

Virgil had his hoodie fully drawn now and was cradling his head, “Roman _stop_. This is your power right? How do we fix it?”

Roman turned to Virgil, his eyes wide and darting around, “I-uh- I can’t think!” he swatted at the cat on his head, “Cat dander, Virgil!”

The cats and dogs were filling the room quickly now, the goose had lodged itself in the crook of Logan’s elbow.

“How do we stop this?” Virgil yelled again at Roman who only squeaked in response. He groaned, “Patton! Any ideas?”

Logan couldn’t even move anymore. There were too many animals and the water had fogged up his glasses. He could barely hear Patton’s response over the thunder.

“One,” he said, so calmly that Logan nearly missed it. Logan turned to him.

The last thing he saw was an angry goose and Patton’s fist flying towards his face.


	3. Second Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> WOWEE, thank you so much for reading and all your comments and kudos! Do you know that post with Logan and Deceit freaking out over validation? That's me 😂
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Virgil saw specks of yellow dance in front of him as the taste of carnations burst on his tongue. He turned to Roman who sat ramrod straight in front of his laptop wearing a seemingly serene expression.

Virgil hurled a pillow at his face.

“The hell?!” Roman screamed and batted at the offending object, “That could have hit me in the eye! I could have been blinded!”

“Move your butt and help me wake up Logan,” Virgil said and Roman opened his mouth to speak, but Virgil was faster, “and don’t tell me you’re almost done.”

“I am!”

“Bullshit, I can literally taste your confusion,” Virgil said and watched Roman sputter for a response before slamming his laptop shut and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “stupid empaths” under his breath.

They had stared, stunned, when Patton had punched Logan in the face earlier. The storm and the animals had instantly vanished (although the goose was still mysteriously present), and Patton had turned to them.

“What?” he had asked, “It worked.”

Roman had paled considerably at the sight of the unconscious Logan which left Virgil and Patton to haul him onto the couch. After talking for a bit, they agreed that Roman’s powers were the most concrete, and thus perhaps the easiest to control. Roman tried to describe how he controlled his powers and then taken to his laptop to try and create a flow chart to demonstrate his train of thought (Oof, better not mention that particular idiom to Logan when he wakes up. Virgil did not want to get hit by a train anytime soon). But Roman wasn’t making any headway and Virgil was worried about the groaning Logan who was lying down on the couch.

“Come on, Roman,” Virgil said and Roman sighed. He knelt down to Logan’s face and poked it a few times. Logan blinked awake groggily and sat up. Patton moved to give him his glasses again, but the goose honked at him angrily and snatched them from his hand.

“Ah. Um. Thank you, goose,” Logan said, taking his glasses from the goose and putting them back on. He looked at Patton.

“Did. Did you punch me?”

Patton nodded.

“That hurt.”

Patton nodded again, “I can imagine.”

Virgil shivered. Seeing Patton like this was beyond creepy. The only good thing was that Patton wasn’t emoting anything, but Roman’s worrying and Logan’s confusion more than made up for what Patton lacked. Virgil could barely hear his own thoughts over the other two’s emotions. He took a deep breath and tried to gather himself.

“Apparently, once you stop imagining things, whatever you conjured goes back to the imagination,” Virgil said. Logan gestured to the goose who was giving Patton the stink eye. Virgil shrugged, “Yeah, we’re not too sure about him. I think he just likes you?”

The goose seemed pleased at that and ruffled his feathers.

“I, um, ok,” Logan said and rubbed at his head and face. Virgil winced. There was a growing bump on Logan’s head and his cheek was deepening in a bruise. “Gah, I wish I had some ice.”

A small ice bag popped onto Logan’s chest and he stared at it in wonder. A few hundred more ice bags popped up and filled the kitchen. Virgil felt an itch on his leg as Logan groaned.

“This would be convenient if it weren’t so…extra,” Logan said and grabbed the ice, “Is there a way for me to send things back to the imagination _without_ violence?” he asked.

Roman nodded and pulled up his laptop. There was a half-finished diagram on it and Virgil could feel pop rocks in his mouth as Roman’s eyes lit up.

“So I’ve been going over it a bunch of times. Like a lot of times. You know, ‘cause if I get something wrong it could mean that we’re all stuck like this forever and-” the three of them fixed him with a look and he blushed, “Ahem. Anyways. Usually, if I want something to appear, I have to imagine it clearly in my head. If I don’t give the imagined item enough form,” he gestured to the ice bags that now blocked the entrance to the kitchen, “it will go wild. So maybe try and summon something small? Like a cookie?”

Virgil looked to see if Patton had reacted to the mentions of a cookie. He did not.

Logan nodded and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a small brown disk floated in front of him.

“You did it!” Roman exclaimed.

But his excitement was hasty. The plain brown cookie suddenly had dark brown dots on it that looked like chocolate chips. Then they disappeared and were replaced by macadamia nuts. Then those were replaced and marshmallows began to pile on top of the cookie. Hundreds of small, pillowy marshmallows stacked up until they reached the ceiling.

The goose picked curiously at the marshmallow mountain and Roman groaned.

“Logan, what kind of cookie did you imagine?”

Logan glanced at him sheepishly, “I-uh, I don’t know. I didn’t really think about the type.”

Virgil felt his cheeks flame as Logan’s embarrassment flooded into him. He patted his face as Roman sighed.

“You can’t do that, Lo! You have to imagine with _precision_.”

Logan squeezed his eyes shut again. A chocolate chip cookie popped in front of him, but this time it began growing in diameter.

“You have to think about size too!” Roman shrieked and ducked as the cookie began to take up half the living room.

Logan threw up his hands, “I’m sorry! This is a lot harder than I thought it would be!” he yelled and the cookie grew faster. The goose pecked at it. Virgil felt Logan’s frustration take him by force and he had to sit down to get his head to stop spinning.

“How can he get it to stop?” Patton asked, noticing Virgil on the floor, but not saying much about it.

“Uh, um, he has to imagine it away. Imagine it disappearing,” Roman looked at Logan who stared at him blankly. Then, pieces of their furniture began to randomly pop out of existence.

“The cookie! Imagine the cookie disappearing!”

“I’m sorry!” Logan said, now dangerously near tears, “Once the thought pops into my mind, it’s just given form!”

“That’s what creativity is, Logan! It’s wonderful and limitless, but if you don’t give it a purpose or a form, it can be useless!” Roman took Logan’s hands, “Close your eyes,” Logan squinted at him, “Close them!” Logan did and Roman huffed, “Now imagine the cookies and the ice bags slowly folding away. Just those things, they quietly appeared and now they are quietly being sealed away. And when you open your eyes, our living room will look like it did in the morning.”

It took several moments, but Virgil watched in awe as the massive cookie finally began to recede and the ice bags disappeared from the kitchen. Logan cracked an eye open.

“Did it work?” he asked and when Roman nodded at him, Virgil had to sit down again from the wave of relief he felt. Logan was looking at Roman with a strange emotion.

“What?” asked Roman and Virgil felt himself hunch over at the second-hand self-consciousness. Logan got up slowly and the goose honked at him happily. He held it in his hands and began to pet it.

“I,” he started without looking up, “I never realized how difficult your job was Roman. I always thought that you could simply conjure anything at any time, but now I realize that it’s much more difficult. It takes quite a bit of cultivation and thought.”

Roman blushed and Virgil blushed with him. The goose honked at Logan and Virgil felt something tug at his heart. He looked down and the goose was nudging Logan sadly.

Was he. Was he feeling the emotions of a goose? Virgil seethed, he was going make some snakeskin gloves for himself very soon.

Logan blinked down at the goose who had gone translucent. He honked sadly one more time before disappearing. Logan’s face didn’t show anything, but Virgil saw blue orbs and heard a minor chord. Had Logan somehow gotten attached to the imaginary goose?

“Why did he leave?” Roman asked and when Virgil looked at him, he saw tears in his eyes.

Logan shook his head, “It’s unclear, though more than half of the 650 species of North American breeding birds are migratory so-” Logan stopped himself and lit up suddenly.

“I, I think I have my abilities back.”

Roman brightened and Virgil turned to look at Patton. If Logan had his powers back did that mean-?

But Patton shook his head with a slight frown, “But I don’t have mine back? I still have Logan’s.”

Roman gasped suddenly and dramatically and Virgil felt cold with his fear.

“But if Patton doesn’t have his powers back, and no one has my abilities, then what-”

Virgil felt Roman’s fear become his own, “What’s happening with Thomas?”


	4. Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all your kind words and support, they absolutely fuel me when I write <3
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Roman burst into the real common room and flung himself at Thomas who was on the couch and munching on some chips.

“Thomas!” he yelled and hugged him, then drew back and searched his eyes, “How are you feeling Thomas? Are you ok? Is everything ok?”

Thomas backed away from Roman and gently pushed him off, “I, yes?”

“Why did you sound so hesitant? Is that really a no? Oh no, you’re not ok are you? I can’t have you be not ok. I care about you so much I,” Roman was tearing up, “You do so many stupid things, you’re going to get yourself hurt and I can’t-” Roman choked on his emotion and Patton cleared his throat.

“He seems fine. Back away from Thomas, Roman.”

Thomas lifted an eyebrow at the sniffling Prince and then at Patton, “Don’t you mean back away from the kiddo?” he joked and Patton glanced at him.

“No. Why would I say that? You’re not my child.”

“I-” Thomas started, but Roman had hugged him tightly again. Thomas looked at Logan and sat up abruptly.

“Whoa! Logan what happened to your face? And are those goose feathers? And crumbs?”

“Patton punched me,” Logan said.

“He was a noble goose,” Roman followed with teary eyes.

"We nearly got decapitated by a cookie," Virgil added.

Thomas blinked a few times.

“Wha-What is happening?”

  
Patton sighed and peeled Roman off of Thomas. He then explained everything that had happened with their power switching. When he finished, Roman ran to hug Thomas again.

“I just, I have so many feelings,” he said.

“And I can feel _all_ those feelings,” Virgil growled, but Roman ignored him. He didn’t know how Virgil kept up that dark persona when he was constantly bombarded with information. What could happen to Thomas, what could happen to all of them!

“Never mind that,” Patton said, “Thomas. Do you feel any ill effects from this mishap?”

Roman shuddered. He knew that Patton sounded like Logan usually did, but there was something colder about it. Thomas shook his head.

“I don’t think so? I mean,” he flapped his hands up and down, “I feel normal?”

Logan nodded, “I suppose that makes sense. Deceit is, in one sense, self-preservation. I doubt he would do something to cause direct harm to Thomas.”

Thomas nodded, but then shook his head, “But, I still don’t get something,” he pointed at Patton, “If there’s anyone who shouldn’t have fallen under the spell-thing, it’s Patton. He’s never doubted any of your abilities, why would he be affected?”

Logan stroked his chin, “That is, indeed, a good question Thomas.”

Patton nodded, “Well, that is true. Logan provides Thomas with knowledge, Virgil protects him, and Roman provides his livelihood. It’s not hard to see why each of you matter to Thomas.”

“I guess,” Virgil started and grabbed Roman, managing to scrape him off of Thomas and place him in his corner. “And now that we kind of know how to get our powers back, we can all go back to normal.”

Patton glanced at him with furrowed brows.

“Why?”

Roman spluttered, “What do you mean _why_? We can’t go on like this!”

Patton shook his head, “You misunderstand. I understand why you, Roman and you, Virgil need to go back to normal. But why me?”

They all stared at him and he continued, unperturbed.

“Now that my emotions have dulled, I see the true merit of what Logan has been saying. All they do is get in the way of problem solving. They aren’t useful. I should just stay like this.”

“What are you saying Patton?” Logan asked, backing away, “There can’t be two sides with the same function, one of us will fade away.”

Patton nodded, “Yes. Probably me since you have more of a handle on the abilities of logic. So long as one of us is here, it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t- of course it matters, Patton!” Virgil yelled and Thomas nodded his head vigorously.

“You’re my heart Patton! I need you!”

“You don’t,” Patton said, his voice ice, “As the heart, I am always overlooked by you,” he cast an apathetic gaze at both Roman and Logan, “but today, as logic? You listened to me more than you ever have before. You don’t need emotion.”

Roman gasped. He saw a future where Patton ducked out completely. He saw Thomas staring blankly at a wall. He saw Thomas with his friends, laughing when he was supposed to, but not feeling anything at all. The possibilities swam in Roman’s head and made him dizzy. He felt a grounding presence at his shoulder- Virgil had put a hand on him to steady him.

“I think I see what happened,” Logan said softly and Virgil nodded.

“The problem wasn’t that Patton doesn’t see our use.”

“It’s that he doesn’t see his own.”


	5. Burnt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYO!  
> Just the author here saying thank you for reading/ commenting/ kudoing (is that a verb?) ! :')
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Virgil was shaking. A combined effect of everyone’s anxiety piling into him. Distantly, Virgil wondered how Patton managed to keep it together on a normal day.

“Why are you all looking so surprised?” Patton asked, seeming to be genuinely intrigued by the question. He turned to Logan, “You once said that emotions are frivolous. Your first reaction to feelings is one of disgust!”

Logan didn’t seem to be able to speak. Virgil felt a wave of shame wafting from him. It smelt like burnt rice.

Logan opened his mouth and then shut it. Thomas answered instead.

“Emotions aren’t frivolous Patton, they’re what make life as enjoyable as it is! The lows and the highs can only be truly experienced with emotion!”

Patton only shook his head with a small, uncaring smile.

“You only say that, Thomas, because you’ve been saddled with these feelings for your whole life. You don’t. Need them.”

“Yes you do!” Roman wailed, full on crying now. Virgil felt a few tears slip out and he wondered whether that was from Roman or himself. Virgil had no idea what to say. Patton had always been the one to comfort him. To tell him that he was useful and worth something. Those words, reflected in Virgil’s own mouth, didn’t feel quite as valuable. Virgil had a feeling that the rest of them felt the same way, he could feel their helplessness. Virgil squeezed his eyes shut, why would Patton say he _liked_ this power?

Wait.

“Patton,” Virgil croaked out and cleared his throat, “Pat, when this first happened, you said that you actually enjoyed your abilities.”

Patton cocked his head at him, “Yes? I can’t imagine why though.”

Logan’s eyes brightened as he caught on to what Virgil was doing. He stepped closer to Patton who backed away with a suspicious squint.

“Because your abilities help you understand other’s emotions.”

“Emotions are a burden,” Patton said and was now backed against the wall. Logan shook his head.

“They’re not. You know they’re not. You use your powers to understand us.”

“I, no-”

“To understand yourself.”

“Stop.”

“To help us, you-”

“ _SHUT UP,”_ Patton roared and pushed Logan away. Logan flinched (he was probably remembering the sucker punch from before), “Stop. Stop it. Everything, all of Thomas’s problems stem from his emotions. His wires get crossed, there’s always a simple solution. A logical solution, but _I_ , I’m always the one who clouds his vision! I can never come up with a solution. I can only complicate things. You don’t-” there were tears in his eyes and Virgil felt tears stream from his own, “you don’t need me,” he finished in a whisper.

Logan shook his head and smiled. Virgil noted, with no small amount of surprise, that Logan’s eyes were watery.

“We do,” he said softly, almost to himself. Then, he stepped closer to Patton who was trembling visibly, “We do," he repeated in a stronger voice, "Emotion is what pushes Thomas to perform. It’s what makes everything he does worth doing. For that happiness, for that satisfaction, for the feeling that he gets when he’s cherished by his friends. His emotions, his morality,” Logan put his hands on Patton’s shoulder and Patton looked up, “are not frivolous. They’re important. They’re needed. They’re essential.”

Patton sniffled loudly and met Logan’s eyes.

“Why do you like your powers?” Logan asked, repeating Virgil’s question. Patton shrugged, but Logan nudged him softly.

“Because they make me feel closer with all of you,” he said, his voice small and shaky at first but slowly growing louder, “because they help me understand how to talk to you, they help me understand myself when I’m feeling down,” Patton looked up with a watery smile, “They help Thomas understand others and they help him empathize. They’re important. They’re needed. They’re essential,” he finished, repeating Logan's words like a mantra.

Logan nodded and Patton smiled up at him. He wiped his eyes.

“Thanks, kiddo.”


	6. And Burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Happy day ??? of quarantine :) Hope you're enjoying the story, thank you so much for reading!

After a few cathartic sobs, and more hugs from Roman, the four of them bid Thomas adieu and sunk back into the mind palace. Now that he was in his right mind, Patton was mortified.

“I can’t believe I hit you!” Patton wailed for maybe the two-hundredth time in the past three hours.

“It’s fine, Patton. It was a logical solution.”

“I can’t believe there was a goose and I didn’t pet it!”

“It _was_ a rather pet-able goose,” Logan conceded and blushed when Patton blinked at him, “ah-um. A rather pet-able, yet imaginary, goose,” Logan stuttered and rubbed the back of his neck.

Patton giggled a little, but then turned solemn. When they had gotten back to the mindscape, Patton had a lot of time to ruminate on what had happened. How he was without his emotions and the chill that still lingered from the experience. He nudged Logan’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Your powers are kind of scary, Logan,” he said softly. Logan turned to him with wide eyes and Patton rushed to elaborate, “Not you! You’re not scary! I’m just,” he sighed, “I’m glad you can control them, the way that you do. I never realized how much you do to contribute while also holding back enough to let the rest of us have an opinion.”

Logan’s blush reached his ears. He didn’t reply, he only nodded slightly and turned away.

Virgil groaned and flopped on the couch. They had been playing a game in which Virgil had to guess what emotions the others were feeling. He was doing well, but had yet to return to his normal state. “I don’t get it. I understand why Patton’s abilities are important, so why aren’t I getting mine back?”

Logan tapped his cheek, winced a bit at the bruise, and then tapped his chin instead as his blush settled back down. “The note did say that you had to _understand_ the other’s power. Perhaps you need to gain more of an understanding of how Patton’s powers work?”

Patton grimaced at that.

In truth, his powers _could_ do something that he hadn’t told the others about yet. Mainly because he never used them for that purpose. When he was under the influence of Logan’s abilities, he didn’t seem to care. But now that he was himself again, he wondered how Virgil hadn’t discovered them yet. Perhaps he was too overwhelmed by the emotions of others to use it?

Patton opened his mouth to tell Virgil about his powers, but Roman cut him off before he could start.

“And _I_ don’t understand why I’m still like this too! I get why Virgil’s powers are important, I do, but do they have to be so gosh darn morbid? It feels so over the top!”

Virgil bristled and Patton saw a wave of blotchy red in his vision.

“Excuse me?” Virgil asked and threw a pointed look at Roman. Roman didn’t see him, he was sitting cross legged on a chair and had an arm covering his face.

“It’s like, every other second is just another weather forecast and the only thing happening for weeks is just rain, rain, and more rain!”

“It keeps Thomas safe,” Virgil growled and Patton tried to intervene, but before he could-

“More like keeps his scared,” Roman replied.

Oh no.

Virgil jumped up, the anger coming off of him in waves. Literally. Red waves radiated from him and both Logan and Patton backed away as their surroundings heated up. Logan looked at the heat waves in bewilderment and then at Patton.

Roman had jumped up, “Whoa! Dude! Calm down, I was just joking!”

“No you weren’t!” Virgil yelled. The painting on the back wall had begun dripping and peeling, “I can _feel_ your emotions, remember?”

“I-ok so I meant it! So what! Maybe you need to learn how to lighten up!”

“Roman!” Patton yelled, but it was too late.

Virgil was huffing loudly, his eyes a ghastly shade of crimson and the air around him scorching hot.

“What is happening?!” Logan yelled as the couch caught on fire.

Patton pulled Roman out of the way of Virgil’s gaze and drew them all into the far corner.

“It’s-” Patton rubbed at his face, “It’s a part of my powers!”

Roman’s eyebrows shot all the way up. “You mean you can turn into a fire demon?!” he screeched and pointed frantically at Virgil.

“No! I,” gosh this was difficult to explain, “I can enhance my own emotions in a way that it affects the people around me. If used in small quantities, I can use it to manipulate others.”

Now both Logan and Roman were looking at him with wide eyes and Patton put his hands up.

“I’ve never used it like that though!” he clarified with a squeak. This- wasn’t really something Patton wanted to talk about. Thomas was a relatively good person, so it never came up, but sometimes the other sides forgot that he was _morality_. He had good sides, sides that were exemplified because of Thomas’s nature, but he also could have very bad sides, should Thomas choose to go a different route.

Virgil roared angrily and shot towards Roman. Patton pulled him to the side and Roman yelped at the flaming hole in the wall that was where his head was.

“Virgil!” Patton yelled, but Virgil didn’t seem to hear him and Patton felt himself go cross-eyed with the force of Virgil’s emotions. His arm-hairs were being scorched away in the heat. Patton tackled Logan away from another heat wave and grimaced. It was true, in small controlled amounts, his power could be used to manipulate the other sides but this, he dodged a fireball, this was not controlled.

He looked at Virgil who was overtaken by pure, unadulterated _anger._ The kind of anger that could push someone to do anything. The kind of emotion that can overtake someone.

Patton jumped and hid Roman and Logan behind the couch, he then stood up and approached Virgil.

“What are you doing?” Roman yelled, “You’re going to get yourself killed!”

Patton shook his head and motioned for Roman to stay where he was.

“Virgil!” Patton called out again and this time Virgil faced him. His eyes were fiery. Passionate. Angry.

Hurt.

“Virgil! I know,” Patton coughed, the air was dry from the fire, “I know what you’re feeling. This is what happens when emotion overwhelms you! You- you can’t think straight! You can’t,” he glanced at Logan, “you can’t think logically!”

Virgil ran and tackled Patton and Patton let himself be taken to the ground. He bucked his hips up, causing Virgil to fall forward. Patton wrapped his right hand around Virgil’s arm and twisted, switching their position. He held onto Virgil’s shoulders and leaned forwards, locking eyes with him.

“You can’t lose yourself Virgil! You’re in a sea of emotion, you _have_ to find yourself! Don’t let yourself get swept up!”

Virgil kicked out from under Patton, but Patton kept his grip. Patton tried to channel his own emotions to Virgil. _Calm. Happy. Safe._

“Virgil” came a yell from behind the couch. Roman had stood up and was running towards them, “Virgil I’m sorry! You were right, I _did_ mean what I said-” the fire around them blazed higher, but Roman ignored it, “but only because I’m so overwhelmed. I can barely think straight, I can only think of what could happen! I’m scared, I’ve been so scared ever since this started,”

The fire in Virgil’s eyes lessened. The heat had gone down and Patton could feel his lungs expand gratefully in response.

Roman sat in front of Virgil and Patton shifted him up into a sitting position.

“And I can’t bear to think that this is how you feel all the time,” Roman finished.

The flames were completely gone now. Logan had successfully managed to put out the fire on the couch and was now coming towards them with a glass of water. Patton desperately wanted some water, but he took the glass and handed it to Virgil.

Virgil blinked at it for a moment, now almost fully normal save for a few singed hairs, then he grabbed it and gulped it down in a matter of seconds. He then looked down at his hands and at the now rather, well, crispy living room. Then he looked at Patton.

“Holy shit.”


	7. Fifth Dimensional Analysis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's POV  
> Notes: Mentions of nightmares, spiders, MINOR Steven Universe spoilers (from season 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!! Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments/ kudos :) If your taking exams right now (like me), good luck with everything!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Virgil paced the room.

“Holy _shit_ Patton.”

“Ah haha,” Patton laughed, clearly a bit uncomfortable.

“That was awesome,” Virgil said, before grabbing his head in dismay, “and awful. Holy smokes, literally!” he let out a hysteric laugh, “I nearly burnt down the living room! We all almost died, I could have blasted someone in the head with a fireball and poof! They’d be gone!” Virgil sank down to his haunches, “poof!” he repeated and opened and closed his hands in a ‘poof’ motion.

 _So my powers are definitely back_ Virgil thought wryly.

Patton sat down next to Virgil and put a hand on his shoulder. Virgil glanced up at him.

“How do you do it, Pat? How do you not go crazy?” he asked, his voice a strange mix of scared and mystified. Patton sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

“It’s because I have all of you to reign me in. I can focus on your emotions when mine get overwhelming, I can think logically because our resident voice of reason is rather stubborn,” he said and winked at Logan who smiled back.

“Awesome,” Virgil repeated, “scary, but awesome.”

Patton blushed hard and Roman made his presence known from the couch.

“Well great! Patton, Logan, and Virgil all have their powers back, but,” he pointed at himself with a pout, “what about me?! Why am _I_ the last one? I miss my conjuring!”

He tried to conjure something, raising his hand in his usually princely manner, but nothing happened. He huffed and flopped himself on the couch.

“With my powers, putting the living room back to its less burnt state would be a snap. Literally! But I can’t and if we don’t clean the room, it’s only going to get messier, and there could be carbon monoxide in the air! And these charred surfaces could be a possible carcinogen and-”

Virgil put a hand on Roman’s shoulder and encouraged him to take a deep breath. Ever since Roman’s confession, Virgil had wanted to clear the air. Maybe explain to him that his powers weren’t all that scary if they were controlled, but he didn’t know how to breach the subject and honestly turning into…whatever he had turned into had left him pretty drained.

Patton poofed away and reappeared in the common room with a load of blankets bunched in his hands. Virgil looked up to him in question.

“It’s getting real late, kiddos. Maybe we should try and get some rest?” He held up the blankets, “I figured we could have a sleepover!”

Virgil moved out of the way and Patton set down the blankets and placed pillows in each corner.

“If I had my powers, I could have conjured the fluffiest blankets you could possibly think of…literally,” Roman mumbled and Virgil cuffed his head lightly. Logan had walked over to them and sat himself on one of the blankets.

“Rest is an excellent idea, Patton. I’ve made some sandwiches in the kitchen, should you get hungry.”

Both Virgil and Roman lit up at that and raced into the kitchen, scarfed down Logan’s sandwiches, and returned all within the span of five minutes.

“Did… you ate all of them didn’t you?” Logan asked and sighed when both Virgil and Roman nodded, mouths still full. Logan looked at Patton.

“I’ll make us some sandwiches too. In the meantime, why don’t the two of you try and sleep?”

Virgil shrank back sheepishly from Logan’s pointed expression and stretched. It had been disaster after disaster all day. He was so tired that he was almost positive that he’d sleep deeply. He laid down and shooed away the anxious thoughts that always came to him just before he decided to go to sleep. He snuggled closer to his pillow and was just about to drift off when he heard a noise coming from his right. Virgil turned.

The room had grown dimmer and its shadows seemed larger than normal. Virgil looked down at his hands, it wasn’t him doing that so-?

“Oh, shit,” Virgil whispered and went over to Roman who was whimpering and tossing around in his sleep. Virgil smacked himself, how could he forget that his powers amplified in his sleep? The shadows crawled around him and gathered in smoky wisps at his feet. Virgil shook Roman and the princely side bolted up with a gasp.

“The fire!” he said and reached out, his eyes wide and confused. Virgil rubbed his back and shook his head.

“No fire anymore, Roman. It was just a dream.”

“We all could have died,” he whispered and Virgil nodded.

“But we didn’t,” he said and Roman shook his head, the shadows growing larger. Virgil backed away slightly.

“Burnt, permanently erased, can we even die? What happens to us if we can? What can happen to Thomas? What can-” he cut himself off and stared out into the living room blankly and then suddenly he looked at his hands, “I keep seeing all these horrible futures. What if I’m stuck like this forever? What if I can never understand your powers? How do you _do_ this?” he asked and Virgil winced at the vulnerability in Roman’s eyes.

He felt a tug of sympathy. Out of all of their power sets, Virgil’s was definitely one of the more difficult ones. How could Virgil explain how to control his powers when he himself barely had a handle on them most of the time? What if he couldn’t explain it to Roman and he really _was_ stuck like this forever, what-

The shadows on the walls began to take form. The outlines of spiders began to scurry around the room. It was at that moment that Patton and Logan decided to walk back in, supposedly finished with their dinner. Patton shrieked and jumped closer to Logan.

“Creepy- creepy crawly death dealers! Logan they’re everywhere! Do something!”

Logan cocked his head at the scene, “Geese can eat spiders,” he mumbled quietly.

“What?!” Patton yelled and Logan blushed.

“Nothing-I,” he examined the pair on the blankets, “it seems that two anxious traits overlapping is causing all of this. Virgil!” he called and Virgil tried to snap back to attention. He took several deep breaths and tried to call back the nightmarish scene that he was creating. While some of the shadows receded, many still remained.

“Your powers include shadow spiders?” Roman yelled and huddled in on himself as more spiders broke off from the shadows.

Virgil grimaced, “No! I, ugh have you ever heard of anxiety dreams?” Roman blinked and nodded, “That’s what this is, it’s just a byproduct.”

“It’s creepy!” Roman yelled.

“I know, that’s the point!” Virgil yelled back and squeezed his eyes shut. This was going to be impossible. The Prince was the embodiment of sunshine and rainbows, there was no way he could convince him about the merits of shadows and spiders.

“How do you do this?” Roman asked again, pleading. He was clutching at his sides and Virgil let out a deep sigh. He unzipped his hoodie and cast it around Roman. He tried to remember what he felt when he had Patton’s abilities: Roman’s fear, his worry, what could make him calm down.

“It’s, it’s like,” he tried to grasp at a metaphor that Roman would understand, “It’s like Garnet’s future vision.”

Roman cocked his head. “From Steven Universe?” he squeaked and Virgil nodded.

“Yeah. She can see all possible futures right? It’s kind of like that, but I see all possible futures where things could go _wrong_.”

Roman shivered, “That’s awful.”

Patton had come over and put a hand on Roman’s shoulder and Logan brought over a blanket. Virgil wondered if Patton was radiating those ‘calm’ emotions. The same way he had done with Virgil.

Virgil shook his head, “It’s all about how you think about it,” he said and felt himself warm at a sudden realization, “Sure, my powers show everything that could go wrong, but they also provide an opportunity,”

Roman tilted his head more, the spiders were crawling back into the shadows.

“They show me where I can protect Thomas. They show me everything I can do to make sure he’s safe.”

“But there’s so much,” Roman said as he leaned into Patton’s steady grip.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, his voice barely a whisper and Patton’s words from earlier replayed in his head, “but I have all of you to filter through the bad parts. I have logic to show me holes in my sometimes exaggerated thinking,” he nodded at Logan, “I have the support I need when I believe that Thomas is in danger,” he smiled at Patton, “and I have someone who isn’t afraid to call me out on my bs,” he finished and looked at Roman, “I can do what I do because I have all of you.”

The shadows were completely gone now and Roman was looking at Virgil with wide eyes.

“You’re like a superhero,” he whispered and Virgil’s face flamed.

“I, what? No! I, uh-” Virgil rubbed at his forearms, desperately wishing for his hoodie back. Suddenly something soft landed in his hands. He looked down. A piece of off-white fabric with a pale red line running through it was sitting in his hands.

Virgil tugged at the golden cords for a moment before shrugging it on and sending a small smile towards the one who conjured it.


	8. Jupiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton's POV  
> (This is set before POF, so Deceit's real name is not used)

Patton rubbed his eyes sleepily.

After the unending stream of chaos that was yesterday, they all were exhausted and had slept in a much less burnt living room (thanks to Roman). It was morning now and Roman had gone to return Virgil’s hoodie while Patton was in the kitchen with Logan, fixing breakfast. Patton glanced at Logan for a moment.

“Hey Lo?” he asked and Logan turned to him, there was a bit of pancake batter smudged on his cheek.

“Did you mean it? What you said yesterday?” Patton asked. He knew that Logan’s words helped him get his powers back, but a small part of him was worried that Logan only said it to fix the problem.

Logan nodded immediately, his lack of hesitation made Patton’s heart jump.

“Of course, Patton. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Yes,” came a voice from behind them and Patton jumped, “That would be my job.”

“DECEI-” Logan started, but then cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, “Deceit. What are you doing here?”

“Would you like some pancakes?” Patton asked and Deceit shook his head.

“I was just coming to inspect my handiwork. So? Are you all still switched up?”

Logan shook his head triumphantly, “No. In fact, your scheme may have just ended with bringing us closer together.”

Deceit rolled his eyes, “Right. Because that definitely was _not_ my intention. I,” he stopped and pointed to something next to Logan’s coffee mug, “I’m sorry, is that a goose?”

“Honk!” replied the goose, who was now wearing a small necktie, courtesy of Roman’s Fairy Godmother.

“Um. Ok, I’m ignoring that. Well,” Deceit let out a deep breath, “At least it’s finally quiet around here-”

“ROMAN YOU _BITCH._ ”

“BUT VIRGIL, I NEED THEM!

“THEY’RE MINE!”

“I WANT THEM FOR MY COLLECTION!”

“I’LL ADD _YOU_ TO A COLLECTION!”

Patton leaned back and glanced out into the living room. Virgil and Roman had both tumbled down the stairs and Roman was sitting on top of Virgil, waving around what looked to be two rolled up posters. Virgil growled and flipped their positions.

“HA! Patton taught me that!” Virgil yelled and Deceit raised a slight brow at Patton who blushed.

“I, uh, no, technically I did not-” Patton sputtered, but was overtaken by the ruckus in the living room.

“No _fair_ , Virgil! They’re Tim Burton posters! Come on!”

“Can’t you just conjure them if you want them so badly?”  
“It’s not the same!”

Virgil rolled his eyes and poofed off, presumably to put his posters back.

“Nothing ever changes,” Logan said with a sigh and put on a pot of coffee.

“Honk,” honked the goose in agreement as he waddled closer to Logan.

“Well. If you need me, I’ll be in my room _not_ screaming into a pillow,” Deceit said and disappeared.

Virgil popped into the kitchen and Roman shuffled in after him. He stuck out a tongue at Virgil who stuck his tongue out back. Patton smiled at the display. Despite their constant fighting, Patton knew that they actually got along quite well.

Virgil poked at the goose who pecked at him curiously.

“So, uh, you have a name for your goose, L?” Virgil asked. After Roman got his powers back, he had conjured Logan’s goose back from the imagination. Logan tried not to show it, but Patton knew that he was thrilled. Patton tried to pet the goose. The goose, however, still did not trust Patton after his earlier disposition and backed away.

“Hm. I was thinking Gustav, after the famous composer Gustav Holst.”

Roman blinked at him, “Seriously?”

Virgil snorted, “You’re naming the goose Gustav? As in Goose-tav? Surely you hear the pun.”

Logan turned away from them, his voice was steady but Patton could see that he was hiding a smile, even without his empathic abilities.

“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about,” Logan said.

Patton sighed happily. The goose nudged him and let him pet his head.

Maybe nothing had changed, like Logan said. But then again,

Maybe everything had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo amazing readers!!  
> THANK YOU so much for reading and for all of your overwhelming support! This fandom is literally SO sweet and wonderful and kind and overall just amazing <3
> 
> If you've read my previous stories, you know exactly what's coming. If not WARNING: the most shameless of plugs is forthcoming:  
> Did you enjoy this story? Did you see the Patton/ Logan angst and instantly want more? If so, check out my next fic "Beyond All Reason" ! 
> 
> Ok, obligatory plug aside, thank you again for reading, until next time!


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